More Than A Friend
by The-Grim-Prince
Summary: Natsume goes to visit Tanuma, who fell very ill. But while doctors are unable to figure out what's wrong, he thinks that there might be a supernatural force behind this. It's up to him to save his friend. And figure out how import Tanuma really is to him.


(( I'm a fan of Natsume Yuujinchou. I figured I would give writing a fanfic for it a shot. I hope that you like it! I certainly did write about half of it while in the middle of a class~

New fanfic, commence! ))

:::

As Natsume distantly gazed out at the school garden from the window during lunch period, he came to realize that it had been awfully quiet lately. It's not that his friends weren't constantly talking to him, or that he hadn't seen any spirits wandering around. Quite the contrary. Though, it felt like something was missing. Almost as if there was an empty space where something regular was supposed to be.

Tanuma. It was a common occurrence, where Natsume would be staring out the window, and find his friend would silently join him. They never really talked about important things, or anything troublesome. It was mainly idle chitchat, or a sudden muse about an interesting disturbance in the rural town. Tanuma wasn't quite like Natsume's other boisterous friends. He was just sort of… there. Rather than asking Natsume to spend time with him, he just sort of happened to run into the other, and things happened from there.

Thinking about it, Natsume admitted to himself that it was rather pleasant. Compared to the many sudden meetings with Ayakashi demanding their names be returned, having such a passive person accidentally turn out to be in the same area as Natsume was relaxing.

So it was a bit disheartening that Tanuma hadn't joined him today. When he thought about it more, he hadn't seen his friend in several days. After more consideration, he noted that Tanuma wasn't in the regular place during lunch for the past six days.

Deciding it was definitely worth investigating, Natsume headed towards the area of Tanuma's classroom, Class One, at a leisurely pace. Some students were just milling about while waiting for class to start again.

"Excuse me," Natsume said, getting the attention of a student standing nearby. "I was wondering if you have seen Tanuma Kaname today."

"Tanuma…" the boy let out, thinking to himself. "I don't know anyone by that name. Hold on." He turned away for a second, spotting a fellow classmate nearby. "Hamano-chan, do you know someone in our class named Tanuma?"

The girl with short, brown hair nearby turned to look at him. After thinking for a second, she quietly answered, "Oh, I do. He sits two seats behind me. But I don't know him personally if you need something…"

"Have you seen him lately?" the boy asked further.

"Come to think of it… no, I haven't. He has been absent for a while now," she replied. "Why, is something wrong?"

"I just haven't seen him in a while. I was wondering if he was even in school," Natsume responded. "Thank you."

The girl nodded with a slight smile.

Natsume returned to his class as everyone started to leave the hallways. As he took a seat at his desk, Kitamoto and Nishimura grabbed his attention before class could begin again.

"Natsume-kun, we're going down to the lake today. My cousin has a boat, and he wants to take us to that little island in the middle. We're going right after school, since he's leaving for his home in the city tomorrow morning," Nishimura announced. "And you are cordially invited."

"I might be a bit busy today…" Natsume replied. He was considering stopping by Tanuma's house to see if he was around after class let out.

"But this won't happen again for a long time! It's getting cold out, and my cousin barely comes to visit anymore," Nishimura whined.

"I packed a few bento this morning, so we can have a small picnic," Kitamoto offered. "It could be interesting to see if anything is there."

Knowing that he hadn't been spending much time with the two lately, Natsume had to surrender.

:::

The next morning, he found himself sleeping in on the day off from school, with Nyanko-sensei curled up after a night of drinking right next to him. The sun had already risen. The fact that he had to trek through some trees and mud to find a clear spot for the picnic yesterday, and two Ayakashi visited in the middle of the night, made it not very surprising that he felt so lazy.

Natsume went to shield the sun away from his eyes using his forearm as he heard footsteps coming close to his room.

"Takashi-kun? You have a phone call," he heard Touko say. She opened the door a bit. "My, still in bed? It's too beautiful of a day to be lazy. Get up now!"

"Sorry, I'm getting up," Natsume said, sitting up. Nyanko-sensei simply rolled onto the spot that the boy had warmed up while sleeping. He stood up, then went to follow Touko into the kitchen, where the single phone was kept. He picked it up from its spot on the counter to answer the caller.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Natsume-san. This is Tanuma's father. We met when I was attempting to cleanse the fields back when," the voice greeted.

"I remember," Natsume reassured him.

"That's good. Well, I had heard that you were living with the Fujiwara family, so I looked up the number. I'm glad that it was the right one. Anyways, I have a bit of a request for you," Tanuma's father explained. There was a bit of a heaviness in his tone, as if something was wrong.

"Alright. What is it?" Natsume asked, wondering if this had to do with his friend's absence.

"If you are free sometime today, I was wondering if you could stop by. You see… Kaname isn't doing too well. He fell very ill recently, and hasn't been able to leave the house. It would mean a lot to him if a friend could come visit him. Is that a bit too much to ask?"

"Ah, not at all! I was just wondering where he has been lately. I'll be over soon, probably in an hour or two."

"Thank you very much, Natsume-san. I will you see you then."

"Alright."

Natsume hung up the phone, replacing it on the receiver.

"Who was that, Takashi-kun?" Touko asked, preparing a light lunch nearby for the two of them.

"It was the father of a classmate of mine. Do you remember Tanuma-san?" Natsume asked.

"Yes, I believe I have met him once or twice before. Are you two going out today?" she asked.

"Well… Tanuma's father told me that he's very sick. He wanted me to go see him today. So, I will be going out," he explained.

"That's terrible! Why don't I quickly make some treats for you to bring over?" Touko offered.

"You don't have to. I don't want to trouble you…"

"Nonsense. I really don't have much to do today. Here, why don't you go get dressed and have some lunch? I'll be ready by the time you're finished."

"Thank you, Touko-san," Natsume said with a smile. He left for his room.

:::

Natsume, with his backpack containing a small bag of sweets that Touko had prepared for them, was met at the front door by the elder Tanuma.

"That you so much for stopping by," he greeted, ushering Natsume inside. "I really appreciate this."

"Please don't thank me. I was actually a bit worried, and planned to stop by yesterday. I was a bit busy, though," he said, taking his shoes off before stepping onto the hardwood floor.

"I see," the man responded. "My son is resting a bit right now, but he should only be dozing. To be honest… I'm not quite sure what is ailing him. He suddenly came down with a fever one day, then suddenly grew very cold the next. Since then, he has only grown more weary over time, and doesn't feel well enough to eat. He becomes too dizzy if he tries to leave his bed at this point…"

"I see. Will he get better?"

The man didn't answer for a few seconds, as if thinking to himself. "The doctors have no idea what's wrong with him. They tried a few things, but they couldn't seem to cure the problem. They said… that there's probably not much that can be done for him now," he admitted.

Natsume's eyes widened a bit, as he realized what that meant.

"I'm sorry if this is too much to ask," he said again.

"No, that's alright. I'm happy to be here," Natsume reassured him.

He was guided through the large house to Tanuma's room, remembering the last time he was here. It was around the time of the festival nearby, where he had seen the reflection of fish on the bedroom ceiling. The elder Tanuma lightly tapped on the closed door.

"Are you awake? You have a friend who came to see you," he softly called out.

"I'm up, it's okay," they heard him reply.

With a thankful nod, the man opened the door for Natsume to enter. He slipped in quietly to make little to no disturbance. Seeing that Tanuma was laying on his futon, Natsume went to sit on the floor beside him.

"Sorry for stopping by on such short notice," he apologized, setting down his backpack.

"That's fine. I don't mind," Tanuma said, shifting a bit so he was a bit more propped up on his pillow.

He looked so tired and pallid… Natsume almost felt unwell himself just by looking at him. He had seen the other a bit pale, sometimes a bit pained with a headache from being sensitive to Ayakashi, but never this debilitated. Though, Tanuma somehow was able to meet him friend with a smile.

"Sorry I haven't been making to school lately. I must have worried you," he apologized.

"I was a bit worried, but it would be better for you if you were to rest at home. You wouldn't want to get worse," Natsume said.

"I suppose," Tanuma quietly said, closing his eyes.

"H-how are you feeling?" Natsume asked, unable to think of anything to talk about.

"Just a bit sleepy. If I suddenly nod off, I'm sorry," he replied.

"That's okay. Oh, I have some snacks. Touko-san made them earlier today for you," Natsume remembered. He went to pull the small container out of his bag. He noticed that she must have gone all out on this. The box was packed with an assortment of food.

"Thank you," Tanuma said with a smile. "I'll just have one small one right now. I'm not really hungry."

Natsume nodded in compliance, and picked out one for him. He then took one for himself, and starting eating. Fortunately, Tanuma seemed to like his.

"I'll leave the rest here for you to have later, alright?" Natsume asked.

"That would be fine," Tanuma replied. "Please thank Touko-san for me."

After only a few more minutes of talking, Tanuma had fallen asleep. He just said something quietly, then closed his eyes. And they stayed closed at his breathing evened out.

Watching him sleep, Natsume felt a sort of twisting pain in his chest. He hadn't really felt that before, so he was a bit surprised. Seeing his friend like this… really made him feel upset. He had never encountered something like this before.

Before his eyes, Kaname was dying.

:::

Natsume was sullen for the rest of the night. He inadvertently worried Touko by not eating much of his dinner. He just sat there, his mind a bit blank. He couldn't seem to think of a single thing, except for the picture of Tanuma looking so frail and sickly that wouldn't leave his mind.

He went up to his room without another word to just lay on his bed and stare at the ceiling. As he did so, a certain familiar cat jumped in through his window.

"You make it awfully hard to protect you when you run off all day without telling me where you are," Nyanko-sensei scolded, coming to sit next to the boy.

"You were probably too hung-over to notice I was gone, anyways," Natsume sighed.

"Oh, I smell something nice. Natsume, did you bring me a gift?" he asked.

Natsume passed him a confused look, having no idea what the youkai was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"I can smell it now. Did you bring some sweet sake for me?"

"Sweet sake? I don't have any…"

"I see, you kept it all to yourself," Nyanko-sensei huffed, looking displeased.

"Sensei, I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't had, or seen, any sweet sake today," Natsume responded, sitting up. "I smell like it?"

"Yes, you do. You have the faint scent of an Ayakashi on you, too. Did you go drinking with one of my friends?!"

"Like I told you, I didn't drink any sake today. Please stop accusing me," Natsume said, getting a bit annoyed. He then paused, thinking to himself. "… Nyanko-sensei, is there an Ayakashi or Youkai that smells like sweet sake? Possibly one that hurts people?"

"I can think of a few," the youkai replied. "Why do you need to know?"

:::

(( That's the end of chapter one! Please tell me what you think if you get the chance. I should get the next chapter soon. See you then~ ))


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